


Yurio is absolutely, definitely, completely not in love with his best friend (except he is)

by faeryn



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (sorry wranglers), Abundant Welcome To The Madness References, Anal Sex, Angst, Bad Decisions, Bottom!Otabek Altin, Eventual Smut, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, M/M, Masturbation in Shower, Miscommunication, Mom!Yuri Katsuki, Mutual Pining, Otabek is 19, Post-Canon, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Top!Yuri Plisetsky, Underage - Freeform, Victor ships it hard, Yura's dick has a mind of its own, Yuri 'Drama Queen' Plistetsky, Yurio is 16, age gap, fake boyfriends, otayuri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-01 22:15:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15783186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faeryn/pseuds/faeryn
Summary: When Victor announces that he and Yuri are going to a couples skating retreat, Yurio can't believe he's being left out. Only couples are allowed, but nobody said they had to berealcouples. So Yurio and Otabek tag along - and maybe figure a few things out along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, a few notes to start:
> 
> \- I know the fandom tends to spell Yuri and Victor as Yuuri and Viktor. I'm not gonna do that, so if it's a deal breaker, I'm sorry?  
> \- As a result, to differentiate between Yuri K and Yuri P I'm calling Yuri P 'Yurio' throughout.  
> \- If you haven't seen Yuri's Welcome To The Madness Exhibition skate then it's probably a good idea to find a vid, since I do reference it sometimes. It's not instrumental, but you'll probably understand a few references slightly better if you do! Reading the manga special for it is probably also handy, but again is not required.  
> \- I don't really know the timelines between the GP series and the other competitions, so the timeline I'm using is just for the convenience of the fic and may or may not in any way accurately represent reality. I'm reasonably sure I got their ages canonically right, but I don't even promise that xD  
> \- This is in no way an accurate or realistic representation of ice skating or basically anything else, it's a fic about stupid kids falling in love. If you find yourself unable to enjoy it or unable to suspend your disbelief feel free to click the little 'x' button ;)  
> \- This has been beta-read by the incredible [FoxInDocs](http://thefoxindocs.tumblr.com) but I keep changing little things so any mistakes are my own and you're welcome to point out any typos or whatnot that I've missed between my final edit and posting! I wish I could post this with her comments from the google doc though, since they're cracking me up XD 
> 
> There should be about 4 chapters in total, I've already mostly written the second and I'm planning for two more after that. I'll post the second chapter when I'm done with it or in a week, whichever is later. But hopefully it won't take too long for me to finish this since I'm really enjoying writing it and I suspect it won't let me rest until it's out of my head completely xD 
> 
> Housekeeping done, please enjoy!

“What the fuck you mean you’re gonna be gone for two weeks!” Yurio slammed his hands on the table as he yelled at Victor. 

“I mean we’ll be gone for two weeks, two weeks, we won’t be here,” Victor answered with a grin, not phased at all by the boy’s anger. 

“Why the fuck not? You can’t just leave me here, you just got back!” 

“It’s a  _ couples _ retreat, Yurio, Yuri and I are going  _ together _ ,” Victor put his arm around a red-faced Yuri and leaned in to him, oblivious to the other man’s discomfort. 

“W-we said we’d go,” Yuri stammered, “they said it would be good for the retreat’s publicity to have, ah…” Yuri trailed off and looked away, his face still bright pink.

“To have skating’s number one couple attend!” Victor finished for him, making a victory sign with his free hand. 

“Skating’s number…” Yurio looked incredulous. “You’re only popular because… because…  _ argh! _ ” Yurio turned and kicked his chair across the room before storming out in a huff. 

Victor had only been back in St Petersburg for a short while, yet he was already going away  _ again _ \- and once more because of Yuri. It had only been bearable not having him here before since Yurio was so focussed on his senior debut, he’d hardly noticed who was around really. But now Mila was constantly bugging him, Georgi was still moping around, and Yakov was always on his back about something or other, and without Vitya there to distract them they were going to get even  _ worse _ . What to do, what to do? There had to be some way he could… A sly smile crossed his face at the sudden thought that flickered into life in his mind. Yurio pulled his phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial.

“Hey, Beka? I need to ask you a favour…”

 

~

 

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea…” Yuri looked doubtfully from Yurio to Otabek. 

“Why the fuck not?” Yurio stepped forward, ready to get in Yuri’s face and demand answers, but Otabek’s hand on his arm halted him. Instead he settled for glaring at the other Yuri, as if trying to set the man alight through thought alone.

“Well… it’s a couples thing. You’re sixteen now, so you’re old enough to come along, but… you’re not a couple… unless I missed something?” Yuri squinted at them from behind his glasses, seemingly trying to figure out when their relationship status had changed from ‘best friends’ to ‘boyfriends’. 

“That’s right,” Otabek said calmly, sliding his hand down Yurio’s arm and lacing their fingers together. “You missed something. It’s okay though, right?”

“O-oh. Well! Okay then,” Yuri appeared to gain a little more confidence. He and Otabek had always gotten along quite well, especially when Otabek was around to rein in Yurio’s wilder tendencies, and Yurio knew he’d made the right choice asking Otabek to pretend to be his boyfriend for two weeks so they could go to the retreat. 

“Yurio! Otabek! Congratulations!” Victor trilled, coming up behind them and throwing his arms across their shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re coming with us!” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Yurio growled, “and  _ that’s not my fucking name! _ ”

Otabek covered his mouth with his free hand, clearly stifling a laugh. 

“I hate you,” Yurio snarled at him as Yuri took their bags and packed them into the small car he and Victor had rented. Otabek was driving himself and Yurio up on his motorcycle, but the other two said it would be easier if they took the luggage in the car. 

“You love me,” Otabek replied with a shrug as he swung his leg over the motorbike.

“You should be so lucky,” Yurio grumbled, climbing up behind him and tugging on the helmet he was handed. Otabek’s helmet muffled his reply, but Yurio knew it would be something equally snarky and rolled his eyes. 

The journey only took a couple of hours, and Yurio and Otabek easily beat the older two since they were more nimble and able to take short cuts the little car couldn’t manage. When they dismounted Yurio looked up at the beautiful old stone building in awe - this was one hell of a place to hold a figure skating retreat. He wondered how it even had an ice rink, and whether it had been built in a repurposed part of the building or if they’d go out back and find an out of place but ultra-modern rink. Even Otabek gave a low whistle when he turned around from locking the bike up. 

“Let’s go check in,” Yurio said, feigning more confidence than he really felt. 

The inside of the building was as beautiful, and if possible even more impressive, than the outside. They were waved over to a small trestle table that had been set up in the foyer, with a pretty young girl behind it. Her name tag said ‘Lana’. 

“Hey guys! Can I take your names?” 

“Yuri Plisetsky and Otabek Altin,” Yurio answered, looking at the papers in front of her curiously.

“Ah, here you are,” she trilled brightly after a moment of checking. “Hmm. It says here that you were to be coming with a guardian because you’re underage?” She looked around the empty foyer as if hoping said guardian would materialise out of thin air. 

“They’re coming behind in the car,” Otabek assured her, “they should be here shortly.” 

“Okay, well I can’t check you in until they get here,” ‘Lana’ said with a tentative smile, “but I can at least get everything ready for you so that when they do you won’t have to wait any longer.” 

“That’s fucking stupid,” Yurio couldn’t help interjecting, “Beka’s nineteen, he can be my guardian.” 

Lana looked back and forth between them, clearly taken aback by the sudden venom in the younger boy’s voice. 

“Yura, I don’t think your boyfriend is allowed to be your guardian too.” Ever the voice of reason, Otabek rubbed Yurio’s back in what he assumed was meant to be a soothing manner. Yurio opened his mouth to tell Beka he wasn’t his boyfriend, but quickly remembered where they were and snapped it shut again. 

“Fucking whatever.” 

They hung around the foyer for a little while looking at the paintings hung on the walls and the ornamental vases on equally ornate little tables that seemed to serve absolutely no purpose until Otabek dragged an increasingly agitated Yurio back outside where he would be less likely to start berating the check-in girl. 

“They’re just being careful, Yura,” he said reassuringly, “imagine if some poor girl showed up with an older boyfriend, they’d have no way of knowing if she was here against her will. They’re looking out for you to make sure I’m not some scumbag.”

Yurio looked at him incredulously, the idea of Beka of all people being that kind of person incomprehensible to him. Otabek shrugged with one shoulder, face impassive.

“They don’t know, I’m not offended.”

Grumbling and huffing under his breath, Yurio had to at least concede that the company running the retreat probably had to watch their backs for lawsuits or whatever, but it still didn’t make him any less annoyed by the presumption that Otabek would or even  _ could _ make him do anything against his will. If anything it was Yurio who roped Otabek into this crazy charade. 

Finally, over an hour after Yurio and Otabek had arrived, Victor and Yuri pulled into the gravel-lined driveway and parked up next to Otabek’s motorbike.

“You took your fucking time!” Yurio yelled as they jogged over to retrieve their bags.

“He’s just pissed off because they wouldn’t let us check in until his  _ guardians _ got here,” Otabek smirked, ruffling Yurio’s hair fondly.

“Damn right I am,” the boy in question grumbled, heaving his skate bag onto his back and dragging his leopard print suitcase out of the trunk.

Checking in once Victor and Yuri arrived was… not as smooth as they had hoped it would be.

First of all, Lana squealed when Victor and Yuri stepped into the lobby, and yelled “Mr Nikiforov! Mr Katsuki! We’re  _ so _ glad you came!”

That, naturally, brought a bunch of other people who had already arrived out of their rooms to see what was going on, and before they knew it the four of them were being swamped by fans asking for autographs. Lana may not have recognised Yurio and Otabek, but a bunch of the skater otaku who had bought places at the retreat just to meet Victor and Yuri sure did. 

It took another 40 minutes, despite Yurio’s protests, for them to finally get the crowd to disperse so they could check in. It would have been shorter except that Vitya kept dragging Yurio back for ‘one more’ selfie or autograph, insisting it was important to be kind to their fans.

“I guess this makes you guys skating’s number two couple!” Lana said with a wink at Yurio once they were finally signing the paperwork that would allow them all to finally get to their rooms. 

“Yeah right,” he growled back, “I’m not number two to these idiots in anything.” Even if his ‘relationship’ with Otabek was fake, there was no way he was letting anyone put him in second place. Lana just laughed and handed him and Otabek room keys.

“Hold up, we’re in different rooms? But  _ they’re _ ,” he tilted his head aggressively at Yuri and Victor, who were now taking selfies in front of the paintings, “in the same room.” 

“Yura…” Otabek murmured, a gentle hand on his arm again. 

“ _ Okay. Fine. _ ” It wasn’t worth getting riled up again anyway. It wasn’t like he and Otabek hadn’t shared a room before when they visited each other, or that they were even in a real relationship that would warrant them staying in the same room, it was just the double standard because he was two damn years too young that pissed him off. 

As it turned out their rooms were adjoining anyway, with Victor and Yuri across the hall, and they were all in their own little wing slightly away from the rest of the attendees. Apparently Victor had thought of someone other than himself, for once, and insisted that it would be better that his dear darling Yurikins wasn’t mobbed by fans every morning the moment he stepped outside of their room. Yurio was actually grateful for that, even if he was surprised that Victor could actually have some foresight for once. It wouldn’t have surprised him in the least, though, if he found out that it was actually Yuri’s idea. 

The four of them disappeared to their respective rooms to unpack, but Yurio quickly got bored once he’d thrown his clothes into the beautifully carved wardrobe and set of drawers in his room. They hadn’t made any arrangements to get together, and truthfully he wasn’t sure if Victor and Yuri would be spending all that much time with him and Otabek - it was meant to be a  _ couples _ thing after all, they’d probably spend all the time they weren’t on the ice in their room doing… he shuddered to think. Each other, probably. 

Yurio flopped down on the frankly enormous bed for a skinny sixteen-year-old and pulled out his phone. It wouldn’t hurt to scroll through Instagram for a while, he figured, at the least Phichit or Chris would probably have posted something funny that would entertain him for a while. He completely ignored the hundreds of notifications he had - people tagged his account in shit all the time, and most likely half the people they just took photos with downstairs had posted already so he didn’t expect there to be anything new really. 

Instead, he started right away with Phichit’s latest story, posted ten minutes ago. Opening it up he saw a video of Phichit leaning against the boards at his home rink, waving and smiling at the camera.

_ “So, ah, lots of you have been messaging me today!” _ he began “ _ and I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time so I thought this would be the quickest way to answer everyone’s questions - that is, the one question you all have!” _

Yurio rolled onto his side and tutted under his breath, trust Phichit to drag the subject out, whatever it was. 

_ “The truth is I had no idea that Yurio and Otabek were together!” _ Yurio sat up, eyes glued to the small screen of his phone and heart beating wildly. Of  _ course _ people would have noticed if they’d been tagged at this stupid couple’s retreat. Fuck.  _ Fuck _ . 

_ “I’m not surprised though, those two have been practically joined at the hip since they met,” _ Phichit continued, laughing,  _ “I hope they have a great time at the retreat, and I’m sure they’ll have plenty to say when they get back!” _

_ “Can we get back to training now, Peach?” _ Celestino’s deep voice came loudly through the speakers, clearly he was holding the camera.

_ “Ah, yes! Okay everyone, I have to go! Try not to run the gossip mill too much,”  _ he winked and the camera shut off. 

_ Shit, shit, shit and fuck and shit again. _ Yurio opened his notifications, suddenly dreading what he was going to find. His fans were pretty rabid, and while his friendship with Beka had  _ mostly _ been taken well - hell half of them even ‘shipped’ them, apparently - he knew he’d have to curtail any backlash sooner rather than later.

_ OH EM GEE I SHIP IT SO HARD!!! OTAYURI 5EVER!!!  _

_ I fucking knew it! After that Exhibition skate?? How could they not be! *heart eyes for dayyyys*  _

_ AHHHH they are so cute together! Otabek is such a sweetie too! _

Okay, the first few posts seemed to be mostly along those lines. He sighed in relief, glad that at least it hadn’t been taken terribly. They’d have to figure out what to say at the end of the two weeks when they ‘split up’, but that was  _ future _ Yuri’s problem.

He continued to flick through the many, many posts, realizing that the volume was only increasing as word spread. 

_ Holy shit, is this real? That’s so gross, he’s a baby! _

_ Urgh, I have zero respect for Otabek now, how could he? Yuri’s only 16!  _

_ LET *clap emoji* YURI *clap emoji* BE *clap emoji* A *clap emoji* KID *clap emoji* He doesn’t need some older guy corrupting him, he’s way too sweet to be dating yet! _

Yurio felt his blood pressure rising as he continued to read, all the sweet supportive messages quickly falling away in the face of overwhelming negativity. First of all, what the fuck. Sixteen is  _ hardly _ a ‘kid’ and  _ sweet? _ Did they know him  _ at all _ ? He began typing furiously, replying to every post that said anything even remotely negative about Otabek.

_ ‘FIRST OF ALL HOW THE FUCK DARE YOU. Beka is the kindest, strongest person I know and I’m FUCKING LUCKY to have him.’ _

_ ‘There is a THREE YEAR age gap, why the fuck would that be a problem?’ _

_ ‘HAVE YOU EVER MET A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GUY??’ _

He was halfway into the second dozen of his replies when his door flew open - he’d forgotten to lock it, unused to doors without electronic keycard locks - and Otabek strode in. In one swift motion he tugged Yurio’s phone from his hand and pocketed it then lifted the smaller boy over his shoulder like he weighed nothing at all, all with a blank expression. He carried a kicking and writhing Yurio out of his room, pulling the door shut behind him, and into his own room. Absently Yurio noted that it was almost identical to his own, except the colour scheme was a cacophony of greens that he thought rather suited Beka. 

“I’m deleting all those posts, Yura,” Otabek said, pulling out Yurio’s phone and doing just that. 

“Hey! No the fuck you’re not.” Yurio tried to grab it, but Otabek easily held it out of his reach, using one arm to keep Yurio away and the other to deftly begin deleting the comments Yurio had been making. Yurio had never regretted telling Beka his phone password until now. 

“You can’t say things like that to your fans, you’ll just upset them. They won’t understand.” Otabek pocketed his phone again and stepped back, arms folded across his chest and glaring at Yurio sternly. 

“Did you see what they were saying about you?! I don’t give a fuck if I  _ upset _ them!” Yurio was screaming, face bright red with outrage. 

“ _ Yu _ ra _. _ ” Otabek rolled his eyes. 

“What? They’re being ridiculous! And how can they call themselves  _ fans _ if they don’t support my decisions!” Yurio was breathing heavily now, working himself into a frenzy as the words he’d read about Otabek rattled around in his mind. He’d seen more than one person call him  _ predator _ , a couple had even bandied about  _ paedophile _ , and for fuck’s sake there wasn’t even a photo of them  _ kissing _ or  _ holding hands _ , all anyone knew was they were at a couple’s retreat with  _ Victor and Yuri _ . They hadn’t even  _ confirmed _ anything yet. He could hear his ragged breathing over the ringing in his ears. 

Otabek stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Yurio, and he immediately began to feel calmer. He rested his head against Beka’s shoulder and tried to control his breathing, feeling his heart rate begin to slow. 

“We’re still friends, right?” Otabek asked him, his voice sounding loud this close up. 

“Of course Beka, always.” Yurio couldn’t help rolling his eyes. 

“Then who cares what they think. But there’s no point antagonising them.” 

“I just… It makes me so angry that they think they get to judge you. Or me! They’re saying such awful things, as if there was some raunchy sex tape out there instead of a vague implication that we’re together because of the retreat. And even if there  _ was _ it’s like they’ve never heard of a sixteen year old having sex before. They  _ do _ know that most guys my age are sexually active in one way or another, right?” 

“I know, Yura, and I’m not saying it’s not hurtful. I just don’t think it’s sensible to let them upset you.” 

Yurio pulled back, looking up at Otabek properly for the first time. He knew his friend well, and he could see the sorrow and hurt etched into his face. Of  _ course _ he wouldn’t be unaffected. It was him they were saying all these things about, after all. But Yurio losing his shit over it probably wasn’t going to help. And then instead of being able to look after himself he was having to calm Yurio down, setting aside his own feelings to stop Yurio doing something stupid - again. He suddenly felt every one of his sixteen years, and pulled Beka back into a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I know you’re right, I just… fuck. I hate that people are assholes. That’s all.” 

“I know. I’ll make a post in a little while explaining things, we’ll write it together, okay?” 

“Explaining that we’re faking it?” Yurio frowned, wondering if that would get them kicked out of the retreat. Otabek laughed as he stepped out of the embrace, shaking his head. 

“No, this sounds like a fun event and I don’t want to jeopardize that for either of us, but if we at least show a unified front and try to stem at least the worst of the gossip that should help. Right now they don’t have anything concrete so they’re reaching for anything they can think of, and some of them are going to bad places because of it.”

Yurio considered that, tilting his head this way and that before nodding decisively. 

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you then. I’ll just get pissed off again anyway.”

“Right. And no more Soc Med for you till after the retreat, I’ll keep your phone if I have to,” Otabek grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

“Like fuck you will, I can stay off it. I was only trying to kill time anyway.” 

It took them a little while to come up with a plan, Yurio kept losing his cool again and having to take a moment to calm down. He was just so  _ angry _ that people were so rude. But eventually they decided the best thing to do would be to make a video and post it on both their stories, so it would have the widest reach, even if Otabek’s account was private. Settling down on the bed, since the room didn’t have a couch, they set up Otabek’s phone to record. 

“Hi everyone,” Otabek said first with a smile, holding Yurio’s hand tightly. It was that pressure that reminded Yurio to stay calm, that he was doing this for his friend, and that told him how upset Otabek truly was. 

“We’ve been getting… a lot of messages today.” Yurio said, somehow managing not to grit his teeth.

“And we’re sorry we didn’t say anything before now, it didn’t really occur to us that we should.” Yurio nodded along with Otabek’s words. 

“We wanted you to know that the rumours are true and that we are  _ a couple _ ,” Yurio emphasised the last two words, his eyes flashing dangerously as if daring anyone watching to comment. 

“But we know that some people might not understand.” Otabek’s expression was almost pained, and Yurio squeezed his hand in support. 

“The fact is that we’re happy, this is just a natural progression of our friendship and if you can’t fu-” Yurio began, before being cut off by Otabek.

“The  _ important _ thing is that we know what our boundaries are, so nobody has to worry that anyone is being taken advantage of.” 

“ _ Right _ . Beka couldn’t force me to do anything if he  _ tried _ , you all should know that about me by now. I never do anything I don’t wanna do. And we have separate rooms, so. There’s that.” 

“So anyway, we thought you deserved an explanation.” 

“Yeah, so if you could all stop fucking gossiping already that would be  _ great _ .” Otabek rolled his eyes, but he shouldn’t really have expected that Yurio would be able to get through the whole message without at least a  _ little _ snark. 

“Okay, we’re gonna go enjoy the retreat now! Bye everyone,” Otabek finished with a small smile. 

They posted the video to both their accounts and then turned their phones off to keep the flood of notifications at bay.

“Thanks, Beka,” Yurio said quietly, “I was about ready to climb through the Internet and physically punch someone.”

Otabek laughed hard, clearly tickled by the idea of a tiny Yurio climbing out of someone’s computer screen and laying into them.

“Oh fuck you,” Yurio snarked, but there was no heat to it and he shoved Otabek playfully in the shoulder, but that only made him laugh harder. At least the worst of the drama was over - for now. He hoped.

Otabek and Yurio had separate bedrooms. They did not sleep in their separate rooms. After dinner and a quick tour of the grounds, Yurio got ready for bed then let himself into Beka’s room and threw himself down on the bed. Otabek raised an eyebrow at him, toothbrush still hanging out of his mouth. 

“What? Like I could sleep in that huge bed. If they gave more of a fuck than I do that we’re not meant to be sharing they’d have at least  _ told _ us we weren’t allowed to,” he shrugged one shoulder, “so finish up and get the fuck in here, it’s cold.” 

Otabek huffed a laugh but disappeared back into the bathroom, and Yurio heard the water running for a while. When he came back he slid in beside Yurio and stretched out on his back, the bed still way too big even for two teenage boys. Yurio lay on his side and watched his friend for a while, before heaving a sigh. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“What for?” 

“Those assholes are saying such fucked up things about you, and it’s all ‘cause I wanted to come to this stupid thing. It’s not fair, and it’s my fault. So I’m sorry.” 

Otabek’s eyes slid open and he looked over at Yurio for a long moment before stretching his arm out and drawing the younger boy in to his side.

“We’re still friends?”

“I told you, idiot, always.” 

“That’s the important thing, then. Now go to sleep.” 

Yurio opened his mouth to argue, but Otabek squeezed him tight and the fight went out of him. He could be outraged on his friend’s behalf on his own time, he guessed. Throwing an arm over Beka’s chest, he let himself drift into an uneasy sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otabek pushes their boundaries, and Yurio comes to a very sudden realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops more housekeeping, sorry!
> 
> \- Most of this fic is loosely (okay, strongly) based on several "Person A: Person B" text prompts on Tumblr, because I liked too many of them to choose just one.  
> \- I have basically zero knowledge of Russian geography or even if buildings like this one exist over there (I feel like they do, but I'm not sure), so if they don't then... I'm sorry and just assume for the purpose of this fic that this is set in a slightly different Alternate Earth or something where they have big manor houses in Russia? XD (I know, I should do better research, but I was too busy wanting to write!)   
> \- There's some pretty bad second-hand embarrassment in this chapter, it's a big problem for me so I tried to gloss over it as much as possible!   
> \- Whoops this fic wasn't meant to earn its rating till the last chapter (don't worry, it will) but Yura's dick had other ideas ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ (Not quite E earned yet I don't think, but certainly close enough ahaha)  
> \- Once again my dear darling FoxInDocs has beta'd for me (and screamed with me about Otayuri in both chat and the gdoc comments, ty ty love you love you) but I did edit a few things right before posting so any mistakes are mine and I welcome typos and shit being pointed out :)

The door flew open with a crash early the next morning, startling both boys awake.

“Otabek! Where’s Yurio! He’s not in his roo...m,” Victor stood just inside the door looking panicked, then confused. Yurio sat up as Yuri stepped in behind him, ready to start yelling. 

“Oh my  _ god _ Victor I  _ told _ you he’d be in here,” Yuri was babbling, “sorry guys you know how he is, no boundaries” he grabbed Victor by the collar and dragged him out of the room as Yurio began throwing cushions at him.

“Whoops! Sorry! Breakfast in fifteen!” Vitya called as the door swung shut behind him, completely unphased by his mistake.

“Fucking asshole,” Yurio growled, throwing himself back down on the bed and pulling the covers up over his head. Otabek just silently waited, and predictably Yurio’s stomach rumbled loudly moments later.

“ _ Fine! _ ” Yurio threw the blankets back off and climbed over Otabek to get out of bed. 

“See you in a few,” Otabek called to Yurio’s retreating back, a smile in his voice.

After a quick shower and throwing his practice clothes on Yurio found the other three waiting in the hall for him outside his room. He hoped for an uneventful breakfast, though he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

Surprisingly enough they were mostly left alone while they ate; likely the other attendees had been instructed not to harass them at every opportunity. When everyone was mostly fed and caffeinated (Yuri had pulled a second cup of coffee out of Yurio’s reach, having only barely conceded on the first, and Otabek snickered,  _ the bastard _ ) three people who seemed to be in charge stood up at the front of the room waving for the low murmur to quiet down.

“Morning everyone!” The girl from the check-in counter spoke first, a wide smile on her face.

“I’m Svetlana, but you can call me Lana!”

“Hi, I’m Dominik but you can call me Niko,” the man in the middle said, only barely taller than Lana with jet black hair and odd colored eyes.

“And I’m just Masha,” the other girl grinned, “the three of us are the organizers of this retreat and we’re here to answer any questions you might have! There are other volunteers around too, though, so if you need anything at any time just ask someone in a uniform!”

“I  _ need _ more fucking coffee,” Yurio grumbled under his breath, and Otabek slid his mostly-full cup over wordlessly while Yuri and Victor’s attention was on the staff.

The three of them ran through some ground rules - emphasising, to Yurio’s surprise, that although they had some champions with them they were  _ not _ to have their vacation ruined by fans - then led everyone through the building to an old ballroom that had a temporary ice rink set up in the middle. 

Yurio couldn’t help but look around in wonder at the gilded stonework and intricate paintings on the walls and ceiling. It made the room seem a lot bigger than it was, and it was definitely much grander than he was used to. Even Otabek gave a low whistle as they looked around. 

“Ah,” Niko’s voice broke him from his admiration, “before we get into the programs in earnest, we were wondering if our honored guests might give us a demonstration?” He was looking right at the four of them, and the others in the room cheered their support.

“Of course!” Vitya agreed easily, because of course he did, “Yuri and I will skate his exhibition from the Grand Prix Series, right Yuri?” 

Yuri flushed but nodded, giving a little shrug as if he didn’t care either way.

“And Yurio, you should do yours after!”

Yurio’s face flared red and he shook his head quickly. That wasn’t the kind of program he wanted to skate for these people, who would read into it  _ way _ more than was actually there. Close behind him he could feel Otabek’s body shaking with silent laughter and he stepped back onto his foot to shut him up.

“I think the fuck not,” he snarked, but quietly because he didn’t want to get in trouble for being rude to fans again. 

“That program has some pretty specific requirements, and I’m not sure this rink is big enough to do it justice,” he said, louder so the others could hear him, “why don’t I do  _ Agape _ instead? That’s much more beautiful, isn’t it? Plus you choreographed it for me Vitya,” his last ditch attempt was to appeal to Victor’s ego, “so it’s a much better program than the one I came up with.”

The crowd made mixed noises of disappointment and enthusiasm, but Yurio was already decided that even if they insisted he would just skate  _ Agape _ anyway.

“We’d love to see that,” Masha came to his rescue and he decided he liked the short redhead the most of the three of them, “and that’s one of the songs we have available too, so that’s good!”

“Yurio!” Victor’s stupid face was all teary and full of emotion, the appeal to his ego clearly worked.

“Don’t get all mushy old man,” he growled, crossing his arms and glaring at him before the man could start hugging him or something equally annoying.

Victor whined but fortunately Yuri was soon pulling him away to put their skates on and get ready to skate  _ Stay Close To Me _ . 

Thankfully once the four of them had all given demonstrations the  _ actual  _ activities of the retreat started. One of the stipulations Yakov had given for allowing Victor and Yurio to go was that they would continue to practice their programs so they wouldn’t be behind for Nationals, which started right after they returned.

They tried, they really did, and in fairness Yurio and Otabek were more successful than Victor and Yuri since the more novice skaters kept interrupting them to ask for their advice. There were quite a few other semi-pro skaters there as well, which meant even more people wanting input from the former World Champion, and Yurio wasn’t really taking it terribly well. 

“I  _ won _ the Grand Prix Final not even all that long ago,” he grumbled at Otabek when they took a water break, “but people would rather ask advice from Katsudon than me…” 

“You want to help new skaters try jumps for the first time?” Otabek raised his eyebrows at Yurio.

_ “No _ , I just want them to want me to,” Yurio knew how petty that sounded, but he also knew Beka wouldn’t judge him. 

“Help me then,” Otabek said, putting his water bottle back down and skating backwards toward an open area of the rink, “Yura I can’t seem to nail this quad, what should I do?” 

His slight smirk told Yurio he was joking, but he rolled his eyes and joined him anyway, barking instructions like Yakov would until they both had to stop to laugh. 

The first few days of the retreat passed like that, and once people realised that Yurio was outwardly prickly but mostly harmless he did find more people asking his advice. Especially the younger skaters, who found him marginally more approachable than the living legend Victor Nikiforov. He made a lot of noise at Beka about how annoying it was, but made sure to give the very best advice that he could anyway. There was no way he was letting Victor and Yuri be better than him at anything, even coaching new skaters. 

“I do wish you’d have skated that exhibition program though,” one girl not much older than him sighed one day, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so hot in my entire life,” her wistful sigh made his face flare red, and he quickly excused himself to grab a drink. 

Yeah, he’d intended it to be taken that way, but the way she looked between him and Otabek as she said it made it clear that she was thinking of the way they’d interacted  _ together _ as opposed to the way he’d choreographed the program in general. And he… hadn’t really thought that far ahead when he did it. Sure  _ now _ with the benefit of hindsight he could see why half his fans had spent the next three weeks gushing about how cute they were ‘together’, which had baffled him before, but that didn’t make it any less weird that people were so interested in seeing it again. Maybe he should reconsider, it would help their whole fake boyfriends idea anyway. They could probably ramp it up, even. He’d have to think about it. 

They hadn’t spent a single night in their own rooms alone, though. The one night Yurio had collapsed into his own bed, exhausted after a full day skating and teaching and trying to one-up Vitya, Otabek had wandered in about an hour later and shoved him over to one side. Yurio fell asleep almost instantly after that, Otabek’s steady warmth beside him relaxing him like a living space heater. It kind of reminded him of Potya, who always seemed to want to squish herself as close to his chest as possible, even if it meant also sticking her fur up his nose. But she was always a lovely warm bedmate, and he felt a sudden ache missing her. 

It was Friday and a ‘free’ day without any specific activities when Victor insisted they all spend some ‘quality’ time together - his words, not Yurio’s. They were standing in the driveway taking photos of each other and trying to decide whether they were going to just walk the expansive grounds or get into the little car and drive to the nearby town to see if there was anything interesting to do there. 

Yurio was glad of the break, his feet hurt a little and he’d gained some interesting bruises while helping some of the other skaters. There had been one spectacular crash where the youngish guy he was helping, around Otabek’s age, had decided to try making his first try at a flip a double. Yurio had figured out his intentions as he kicked off and for some reason moved to intercept his landing instead of letting him learn the hard way why figuring out the easier single first was better, which resulted in the guy pretty much landing on him and sending the pair of them skidding across the ice. Quick thinking and experience had Yurio digging his skates into the ice to prevent them knocking the legs out from under  _ other _ skaters too, but when he showered later that evening he’d been slightly annoyed but mostly amused to see a huge bruise blooming on his thigh, which he immediately had to show Beka so they could laugh about it. It had been a while since he’d had a fall that bad, and it wasn’t even his own fault really.

Victor was taking a series of pictures of himself and Yuri, and Yurio shared a gagging look with Otabek as the older men kissed and gazed at each other with dewey eyes. It was kind of sweet, he guessed, in a sickening sort of way, and he wondered if he would ever feel that way about someone. Not that he really cared one way or the other, romance seemed stupid to him. He had one really good friend and a bunch of people who mostly annoyed him but who weren’t  _ completely _ terrible, and that was good enough. The thought brought a smile to his face as he glanced over at Beka, taking photos of a bug on a rock like the weirdo that he clearly was. 

“Yura!” Victor called, and Yurio knew he wanted something because he only used that particular name when he was going to beg for something, the rest of the time it was  _ Yurio _ . (He had mostly gotten over his outrage at that by now, but needling Vitya about it was too much fun to stop.) 

“The fuck you want?” Yurio had been taking selfies with Otabek in the background for Instagram, ignoring his notifications but tagging them with things like #takingpicsofbugs, #wtfiswrongwithBeka, and #weirdo. 

“Let’s take some pictures of you and Otabek!” Victor made hand motions as if he could push the two of them together from a distance.

“No, you’ll just post them on Instagram with some mushy shit,” Yurio rolled his eyes, though Otabek walked over to him anyway. 

“I wooooon’t,” Victor whined, giving him that kicked-puppy look that worked best on Yuri. 

“Of course you will,” Yuri said with a sidelong glance at his fiancé, “but I’ll try to make sure he only posts ones you approve.”

Otabek slung an arm across Yurio’s shoulders with his usual barely-there smile, looking down at the shorter boy and taking full advantage of his likely temporary height advantage.

“Let them take a few, Yura, what can it hurt?”

Yurio bit his tongue to keep from reminding Beka of all the things his supposed ‘Angels’ had been saying about him the first day they arrived. He dreaded getting home and finally checking his notifications, but since he’d practically promised Otabek he’d been true to his word and refused to read anything since. Even though he was itching to. And it was killing him not knowing what people were saying. Otabek was nosing at the back of his ear and it was  _ very distracting _ so he almost didn’t notice that Victor had brought his phone up and was trying for an air of nonchalance as he snapped pictures of them.

“Urgh, bite me,” he snapped, finally.

“If you insist,” Otabek chuckled and before Yurio could object gentle teeth snapped down on the top of his ear. 

Victor’s face broke out into a disgustingly gleeful expression while Yurio’s flared red and he pulled out of Otabek’s hold, turning to kick the older boy in retaliation. Otabek danced nimbly out of the way, though - Yurio hadn’t counted on his skater’s reflexes given that Victor and Yuri seemed totally incapable of avoiding him ever. But maybe they were just too stupid. Yurio chased Otabek around in circles for a while, yelling for him to stop and take his wrath like a man, while Beka laughed at him with the brightest smile Yurio had ever seen on the usually stoic boy’s face. After a while he stopped trying to catch him in earnest and couldn’t help the grin that spread across his own - it was fun just getting to be idiots for a day, not having to worry about practice or programs or even particularly about public image. Yurio let out a screeching yelp as he tripped over his own feet, way to be graceful Yuri, but Otabek was there in a heartbeat with strong hands on his shoulders steadying him before he could eat dirt. They stood there for a moment, catching their breath with little chuckling laughs still bubbling up between them.

“Nnnnooow kiss!” Victor said, the shutter sound on his phone still clicking away as they snapped back to reality.

“Fuck you Victor,” Yurio grumbled, but turned back to Beka with a question in his eyes. Otabek raised an eyebrow, surprised Yurio was willing to go that far perhaps, but leaned in to close the distance between them anyway. 

_ Oh _ . Otabek’s lips were so very soft. How had he never noticed how soft they were before? And he smelled like this awesome combination of leather, motor oil, and something unidentifiable that reminded Yurio of the club in Barcelona. A wave of warmth spread across his skin and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets to stop himself from doing anything he’d regret later. He knew his face was bright red but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to pull away. Fortunately Otabek had better self-control, and broke away after a few seconds (a few hours? Yurio couldn’t tell). Yurio blinked a few times, trying to clear the daze from his head, when Victor cleared his throat pointedly. He whipped his head around to glare at the older men but found both of them looking away, color high on their cheeks in embarrassment. 

“Yura,” Otabek murmured in his ear and he suddenly realised what the problem was. 

“Oh fuck you  _ all _ , I’m sixteen! It doesn’t do what I tell it to do!” He screeched, mortified that his traitor body would do this to him now of all times, and fled back into the building. 

Hurrying back to his room he slammed the door shut and locked it behind him, taking care to keep the key turned in the lock so nobody could come and bother him. He hoped none of the others would follow, he  _ really _ just wanted to be alone with his embarrassment right now. The insistent bulge in his jeans was… not something he particularly wanted to explain. Or think about. 

Look, it wasn’t that that was his first kiss or something stupid like that. He’d kissed plenty of people. Well, a few. He’d even dated before! A guy and a girl! Not at the same time, obviously. So he wasn’t completely new to this whole idea. But that had been… way more intense than he’d been expecting. Shit. Cold shower, cold shower, that’s what he needed. Stripping off on his way to the bathroom, he turned the heat down as low as he thought he could stand it - which was pretty low, considering he was used to Russian winters - before climbing in. A small shiver ran through his body as goosebumps spread across his skin from the sudden chill, and he leaned his arms against the wall with a sigh.

Otabek was gonna feel so awkward around him now, probably. And he could kiss goodbye to the lovely space-heater warmth of him at night, most likely. Except  _ kissing _ was what got him into this fucking mess in the first place, whose bright idea had that been? He was going to blame Victor, regardless. The water beat down on his back and dripped from the ends of his hair, now just past his shoulders with no sign of stopping. He wasn’t sure he would let it get much longer, though, he was already being accused of trying to emulate Victor. The truth was he just couldn’t be bothered getting it cut. Urgh. This shower was  _ not _ helping.

Taking himself in hand he figured he might as well just deal with it while he had the chance. It probably wouldn’t be too long before at least Victor, the nosy fuck, would come looking for him, and if he was still hard that would probably launch the old man into some kind of long lecture about  _ safety _ or some shit, as if he was some kind of kid that needed that lecture. Well, he kind of was, really, but he also wasn’t  _ stupid _ . It didn’t take many strokes before he was achingly hard and beginning to leak pre-come from the head of his dick, and he closed his eyes to try and combat the embarrassment of mastubating in what amounted to a hotel shower. Not that he hadn’t done  _ that  _ before either, he was a teenage boy after all and the offending appendage  _ did _ have a mind of its own half the time. 

That… maybe wasn’t the best idea, though, as beautiful brown eyes filled his thoughts and the memory of the smell of leather and motor oil made him groan. He’d never thought of Beka like this before, but now no matter what he tried his thoughts kept coming back to him. The way he felt pressed up against Yurio at night. His arm slung over his shoulder in a familiar, friendly way. The softness of his lips against Yurio’s… His hand moved faster, and his breath kept time with each stroke as he felt the waves of pleasure increasing, bringing him closer and closer to his peak. Thinking of Beka’s teeth on his ear brought his orgasm crashing over him with an unexpected suddenness, and Yurio bit down hard on his lip to keep from groaning his friend’s name aloud as he watched his come swirl down the shower drain. 

Well fuck. He had a crush on Otabek, didn’t he? That was… Okay, probably not as unexpected as it should have been, all things considered. Shutting off the shower and throwing on some sleepwear, Yurio unlocked the door - just in case - and climbed into bed. It was way too early for sleep, really, barely even late afternoon, but he really didn’t feel like going back outside. Especially not with wet hair that would make it totally obvious what he’d just been doing. Besides, he really needed to think about this new revelation he’d just had, and he didn’t feel like getting teased by Victor and Yuri. He wished he’d been around during _their_ awkward puberty phase, they deserved to get as much shit as they gave. 

And, as he had been finding them increasingly inclined to do of late, his thoughts slowly drifted back towards Otabek. He resolutely pushed all thoughts of what he just did in the shower  _ out _ of his head, not wanting to end up in a similar predicament again when he was  _ trying  _ to be mature and serious for once. Okay, so he had a little (tiny, insignificant) crush on his best friend. That was normal though, right? Especially at his age. Thinking about people in that way was not unusual at all. He could deal with that, couldn’t he? It wasn’t like Otabek was ever going to feel the same way, not least because he was three years older and probably could get a date with anyone he wanted because he was  _ gorgeous _ and  _ wonderful _ and  _ fuck this crush was terrible. _ Why hadn’t he figured this out sooner? If he’d noticed before they left he could have talked to Mila, who would probably tease him the least out of everyone on Team Russia, or maybe even Phichit - who would tease him incessantly, but at least have good advice. He was a pretty smart guy, for one of Katsudon’s friends. For sure he couldn’t talk to Victor because Victor would be too busy behaving like a twelve-year-old girl to even really listen to him. He could just picture the conversation now:

“Hey Victor, so I actually have a crush on Otabek, what do I do.”

“Oh. My. GOD.” Then cue Victor squealing for basically ever. He sighed. That really only left… he was going to have to talk to Yuri, wasn’t he? He couldn’t spend another ten-ish days ‘pretending’ to be boyfriends with Otabek and nursing his stupid crush. Not without putting his foot in his mouth or something equally embarrassing. He  _ could _ just talk to Beka, tell him ‘hey so maybe let’s lose the pretending part of this boyfriends schtick,’ but his entire body shivered from head to toes at the thought of doing  _ that _ . There was no way he was going to say  _ anything _ until he could be more certain he wouldn’t lose Otabek’s friendship. They were so close, he wouldn’t,  _ couldn’t _ lose that. It was so frustrating, normally he’d just talk to Beka about it, but it wasn’t exactly as if he could do that right now. Not unless he wanted to pretend he had a crush on someone else, and even Yurio wasn’t sure he was that good of a liar. 

He drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what to do and what to say, whether he would talk to Yuri or if he’d just try to pretend everything was okay… He hoped he could shake off this depressive funk before tomorrow or people would start asking difficult questions that he didn’t want to answer, and he couldn’t just leave since that would either mean dragging Victor or Yuri away to drive him, or having to sit behind Otabek on that damn motorcycle breathing in the smell of that fucking leather jacket, and he wasn’t sure he was quite ready to do that again yet. 

It was well and truly dark outside when Yurio heard the door open and close quietly, and he pulled the blankets around himself a little more tightly. Regardless of which of them it was, he was still feeling the humiliation from earlier and he wasn’t sure he could face anyone yet. 

“Yura,” Otabek’s quiet voice made his ears turn pink, “you missed dinner, I brought you some food.” 

He wanted to ignore him, or maybe to tell him to go away, but his stomach - and what was  _ with _ his body betraying him today?! - growled loudly and he remembered he hadn’t eaten much at lunch either. With a heavy, long-suffering sigh Yurio threw the blankets off and sat up, accepting the plate of food from Otabek without meeting his eyes. 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Yura,” his friend said quietly, “you know we’ve all gone through the same thing. It happens,” he gave a little half shrug and fell silent. Yurio wanted to say something, to snap back at him or invite him to lament the treachery of the male body with him, but he found the words stuck in his throat as he couldn’t trust himself to say anything right now. 

Otabek didn’t say anything else while he ate, the silence stretching between them like a thick, oppressive haze, and he realised this was the first time he’d ever felt uncomfortable in Otabek’s presence. Silently he cursed his ridiculous crush again for already starting to ruin what had been such an easy, comfortable friendship. 

“Do you want to sleep alone tonight?” Otabek asked eventually, an odd quality in his voice that Yurio couldn’t identify. 

“Whatever you want,” he answered sullenly with a half shrug. So sue him, he’s a teenager, he’s allowed to be a grump. 

Otabek sighed heavily and in his peripheral vision Yurio could see him scrubbing his face with his hands, an air of exasperation around him. 

“ _ Good _ ,” Yurio thought, meanly, “ _ you  _ should _ be tired of my shit already. Realize I’m just a stupid kid and give up on me already, we both know you want to.” _

“Yura… I’m sorry.”

That  _ did _ make Yurio look at him properly, what the fuck did Otabek need to apologize for? He asked as much. 

“I should have. I don’t know,” he sighed again, “I feel responsible.” 

“You fucking are, kind of,” Yurio laughed suddenly, “but it’s not really anyone’s fault, Beka. It would probably have happened no matter who it was, and.” He took a deep breath, shoving his feelings way down deep inside and trying to look at it from a mature perspective. 

“I would really like it if we could just forget all about it, and not let it ruin our friendship, okay?” 

The smile that spread across Otabek’s face made it all worthwhile. 

“Okay.” 

After he’d returned the plate to the kitchen and changed, Otabek returned to Yurio’s room and slipped under the blankets beside him. Yurio left way more space between them than usual, and imagined that he saw a slightly hurt look flash across Otabek’s face when he tried to close the distance and Yurio shuffled back a bit further, but he didn’t press the issue. 

Not that they didn’t end up tangled together in the night anyway, Yurio’s head resting on Otabek’s chest and their legs all mixed up, but if Yurio smiled happily to himself when he woke up in Beka’s arms he would deny it to his death bed.

 

~

 

“Katsudon,” Yurio called quietly the following morning, hands shoved deep in his pockets and hood up covering his head like a protective mantle. He didn’t want to have this conversation but something in the back of his mind pushed him to go for it anyway. He wasn’t sure he could keep up the charade without at least some advice. And Yuri was going to have to be it. When Yuri looked around at him he tilted his head back and turned away, hoping Yuri would get the idea and follow him. 

They walked in silence until Yurio found a quiet nook where they wouldn’t be overheard, grateful that this big old building had so many of them. He leaned against the wall mulling over how to begin, while the katsudon waited patiently. 

“So. Otabek and me aren’t really dating.” 

“I figured,” Yuri said with a small smile, “but you’re good at pretending and I wasn’t going to stop you if you wanted to come along that badly. We like having the two of you around.” 

“Of fucking course you knew,” Yurio rolled his eyes, Yuri was way too perceptive for his own good. Not when it came to Victor, usually, but the rest of the time… 

“I’m sorry that Victor is giving you guys such a hard time, I thought you probably wouldn’t want me telling him,” he gave a half shrug, “I’ll try to keep him distra-” 

“I have a crush on Beka,” Yurio interrupted, not interested in listening to the man babble and wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

“...oh.”

“Yeah,  _ oh _ .” He kicked at the ground absently. 

“I’m guessing you realized that since you got here, or it wouldn’t be a problem?” 

“You fucking  _ think _ ?” 

“ _ Yuri _ ,” Katsudon said reproachfully.

“Whatever. What do I do?” 

“Uh. Talk to him not me?” 

Yurio rolled his eyes and pushed away from the wall again, ready to storm off since Yuri was clearly not planning on actually being useful. 

“Hold on,” Yuri stopped him with a hand on his chest, “I’m happy to help, I just think that would be a better course of action is all.”

“If I could do  _ that _ I wouldn’t have talked to you at all, asshole.” 

“Okay, okay.  _ Okay _ . Do you have any idea how he feels?” 

Yurio rolled his eyes so hard it gave him a headache. 

“If I knew  _ that _ d’you think I’d be here fucking stressing about it? At least if I knew he  _ didn’t _ I could try to forget about it, and if I knew he  _ did _ I’d have done something about it already, that’s my fucking  _ problem _ Katsudon.” 

“Alright. I can… I don’t know, try and see if I can figure out his opinion, if you like?” Yuri rubbed a hand across his face, “but I don’t know if you noticed, I’m kind of oblivious when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Yurio  _ had _ noticed. He’d noticed that pretty much the second he showed up in Hasetsu and saw Victor’s blatant heart eyes at Yuri and the pig’s apparent complete lack of appreciation for it. But what other choice did he have? It wasn’t like he could just ask Beka or something.

“I just. Don’t wanna ruin what we have. So if you could try, that. Would be cool I guess.” 

“I will, I’ll do my best. I’ll let you know if I find anything out, okay?” Yuri put a hand on Yurio’s arm and gave him a smile he guessed was supposed to be reassuring. 

“‘Kay. Thanks.” 

“I might have to tell Victor though? He notices things I don’t.”

“Whatever, do what you like.” 

Yurio did walk away this time, hoping some ice time would help clear his head and let him put these stupid  _ feelings _ aside for a while. Of course Yuri would tell Victor, and he’d have to deal with Victor’s idiocy when it came to that, but if it would help him figure out what the fuck he was going to do about this situation then, well, he’d just have to suck it up.

 

~

 

It was Tuesday already and  _ nothing had happened _ . Yurio was starting to wonder if he’d grind his teeth into calcium dust in frustration at, well, basically everything Otabek did. Yuri had talked to Victor and after subjecting Yurio to a rib-cracking hug the old man had held him at arm’s length and sworn to - in his words - ‘help the star-crossed lovers get together’. Because he was a fucking sap and that’s why Yurio hadn’t gone straight to him in the first place. 

The three of them were standing at the edge of the ice taking a break while Yurio resolutely tried to ignore Otabek as he demonstrated lifts to a young couple. The guy was flushed red, whether with jealousy or something else Yurio didn’t care, as Otabek lifted his girlfriend into the air in a move that would have been beautiful, if she would just stop giggling and almost kicking Beka in the face with her damn skates.

Putting her back down and giving the guy some quick instructions on what he needed to do, Otabek flashed a quick smile in their direction before turning back to watch and make sure the dude didn’t drop her on her head or something. 

“Th-that’s it, I’m just going to fucking murder him,” Yurio grumbled, his face red all the way to the tips of his ears. 

“Or you could just be a man and ask him out,” Victor said blithely from where he leaned on the boards, his chin resting on his hand as he looked out over the ice. Yuri snickered and Yurio glared at the pair of them.

“Killing is easier...” he shot back, unable to keep the wistful tone out of his voice. 

“Hard to win gold at Worlds from prison though,” Yuri pointed out.

“I hate you,” Yurio grumbled, pushing away from the boards and starting work on the step sequence Lilia had put together for him before they left. 

The thing was,  _ the thing was _ … Things had both stayed the same, and yet somehow completely changed between him and Beka since Friday and his big post-smooch revelation. 

They’d continued to share a bed, and Otabek seemed completely oblivious to Yurio’s feelings, and the small expressions and touches that had been passing between them for months hadn’t changed. Yet now when Beka put his hand on the small of Yurio’s back to steer him, or knocked their knees together under the table at dinner, or smiled that  _ fucking _ smile that seemed reserved just for him, Yurio couldn’t help the way his heart began to beat faster in his chest or the butterflies doing loop-de-loops in his stomach. He kind of hated him sometimes in those moments, even as he relished every tiny second of them. He’d had to clench his fist so hard his fingernails left little crescent marks in his palm at one point to stop himself from actually fucking  _ whining _ when Beka took his hand away. This was terrible. He hated having a stupid crush. 

Blinking suddenly he realised the other skaters had all stopped and were watching him as he ran through his program, so lost in thought he’d just continued on to the next section and the next, but he was taking up more and more of the rink and everyone had just decided to get out of his way. Finished with his students, Otabek was now taking his own break and shot him a thumbs up from the boards. Yurio resolutely looked away so he wouldn’t watch the way his throat moved as he drank from his water bottle. 

“Sorry,” he muttered to the others, returning to the small patch of space he’d claimed as ‘his’ and practicing some spins. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is already written, but I'm not going to post it till I've at least done a significant amount of chapter 4, or until a week has passed, whichever. Though I promised this wouldn't be posted till Friday and I'm doing it now so who knows? Thank you so much to everyone who has commented and kudosed so far! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, I love these stupid dorks so much <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yurio makes some... questionable decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my fantastic beta FoxInDocs helped make sure this didn't suck, but once again I continued to edit after she was done because apparently I just can't help myself xD Feel free to point out typos!

The four of them were eating dinner in a small restaurant in the nearby town, wanting freedom from the wandering eyes and whispers of the fans at the retreat, and as usual Otabek had his knee pressed against Yurio’s beneath the table. What he thought he was doing Yurio had no idea, did he think it would be reassuring or…? It took a lot of self-control not to sigh or grumble or move away, but he was taking whatever he could get right now.

“Imagine getting paid for being cute,” Yuri said suddenly, his gaze drifting to a nearby couple with a very adorable baby.

“Yura would be rich,” Otabek answered without hesitation, still eating his food without a care in the world, and Yurio turned slowly to him red-faced and jaw practically on the table. 

Why would he  _ say _ something like that, did he not  _ know _ how difficult he was making this? 

“...what?” Otabek raised an eyebrow, completely nonplussed.

“He thinks you’re cu~te, Yuratch~ _ ka _ ” Victor sing-songed from the other side of the table.

“Yup,” Beka said.

“Oh my  _ god, _ ” Yurio groaned, covering his face with his hands. 

Later, as they got ready for bed (Yurio had shifted his crap into Otabek’s room, deciding the constant back-and-forth was pointless), Otabek stopped and fixed Yurio with a long look.

“Was that too much, earlier?” 

Yurio blinked at him, confused for a second.

“I thought it would help them believe it,” Otabek explained.

“Oh! That,” Yurio tried to ignore the curl of disappointment in the pit of his stomach, “they already know, Katsudon figured it out.”

“Ah.”

Yurio was suddenly unsure if he should have said that. Right now he was... kind of living for all these sweet affectionate moments from Otabek, even if it all ended when they went home he was absorbing every second until they had to go back to their normal lives as  _ just friends _ . 

They didn’t say any more, but Otabek still pulled him close when they finally settled down to sleep. 

It was weird, really, how they slept like this when nobody was around and there was no need to keep up appearances. But Yurio was trying hard not to read into it or get his hopes up, it wasn’t like it had only started since they got here - they’d shared a bed from necessity while visiting each other and ended up cuddled together, but he always put that down to too-small beds for two teenage boys. They… kind of didn’t have an excuse in this enormous bed. He wasn’t complaining, it was just strange. 

“When?”

Yurio’s heart thrummed a staccato beat in his chest, but he managed to ask what Beka meant without tripping over his words.

“Sorry, when did Yuri figure it out?”

“Oh, um, Friday, he said. That’s when he told me anyway.” It was Saturday, but close enough.

“Hmm…” Otabek shifted a little, but said no more, and soon Yurio felt his breathing settle into the familiar rhythm of sleep.

When Yurio rolled over the next morning Otabek was gone, and his space in the bed was already cold. It figured, of course he’d be done with this now he didn’t have to fake it anymore. Unwilling to get up just yet, he lay and wallowed in his own self-pity for a while, burying his nose in Beka’s pillow and feeling like a creep for loving the smell of him on the soft fabric. He heard the door open and close quietly and pretended to be mostly asleep, stirring in a way he hoped was convincing.

“Beka?” Yurio mumbled, his voice still sleep-rough. 

“Shh, it’s still early, go back to sleep,” he answered, climbing back in on Yurio’s side and sliding up behind him. Yurio curled up with his back to Otabek’s chest, letting the older boy sling an arm over his waist, and for just a moment before he drifted back to sleep he let himself imagine that this was something real that would last beyond the remaining three days of the retreat. Only for a moment, though, or he would have given in to the increasingly strong urge to roll over and press feather-light kisses to Otabek’s throat. He really needed to get this crush under control...

A few hours later he and Otabek were sitting at breakfast with Victor and Yuri as usual, Victor scrolling through his phone and chattering away animatedly while the other three looked like they could have quite happily stayed in bed for another four or five hours (Victor was the only morning person among them, and they all secretly hated him a little for it).

“Ahh Yuuuuuri,” he suddenly called out, “look at this! You have to do this relationship quiz with me,” he beamed and Yuri groaned but nodded his head in assent. Victor was always picking up stupid online quizzes on Facebook and demanding answers from anyone willing to listen to him. Yurio half tuned him out, too focussed on sneaking sidelong glances at Otabek who was pushing oatmeal around a bowl with his spoon and staring off into space blankly. 

“What would you say is my best feature?” Victor started, turning in his seat and looking at Yuri with keen eyes.

“Umm… Your hair. Long  _ or _ short,” Yuri reached out and brushed his fingers through Victor’s long fringe. 

“Yay! And what do you like most about me?” 

“Ah, uh…” Yuri thought for a moment, “y-your love,” he answered finally in a half-whisper, flushing pink.

“Awwwww Yuri!” Victor gushed, leaning in to brush a kiss across his fiancé’s lips. 

“Where do you see us in five years time?” This question turned the pink flush into flaming redness high on Yuri’s round cheeks and Yurio couldn’t help but bark a teasing laugh at the older man. 

“Oh my  _ god _ Yurio, get your mind out of the gutter! I was  _ thinking _ about being on the podium together - except me in the top spot.” Yuri stuck his tongue out at the sixteen-year-old petulantly, as if he were the younger one. 

“Yeah,  _ sure _ ,” Yurio grinned.

“If you have such an opinion Yuratchka, let’s do you and Otabek,” Victor turned on him with a wicked grin and Yurio rolled his eyes.

“Let’s not and say we did, how about that?” 

“Eyes, determination, definitely beating you two to gold,” Beka answered with barely even a heartbeat’s hesitation, still staring away vacantly as he finally brought a spoonful of now-lukewarm cereal to his mouth. 

All three of them snapped their attention to him, and as if their sudden scrutiny was waking him from a long sleep Otabek blinked a few times then looked around at them with a slightly dazed expression.

“What?” 

“You’re being really weird this morning Beka,” Yurio frowned. If he didn’t know better he’d have said Otabek was stoned; his expression and strangeness reminded Yurio of when a rinkmate had been on some heavy duty opiates after a bad fall when he was younger. 

“Sorry, didn’t sleep well. Need more coffee,” Otabek pushed himself up from the table and meandered over to the buffet table to pour himself another cup.

Yurio watched as he downed the first cup and poured a second before coming back, and a knot of worry tied itself up in his chest. He hooked his foot around Beka’s ankle when he sat down again, rubbing the toe of his shoe on his shin in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. He wasn’t good at this. Otabek was usually the one helping  _ him _ out of a funk, not the other way around. The other boy was quite still, the only motion was him raising the coffee cup to his mouth and lowering it again. Yurio opened his mouth to speak, but found he didn’t know what to say. Sure Otabek wasn’t a morning person, and he was by nature fairly quiet, but this was strange even for him, and Yurio had no idea how to handle it. He shot Victor and Yuri a plaintive look, hoping one of them might have some idea of how to snap the older teen out of it, but they both just looked back at him with equally concerned expressions, barely-there shrugs indicating they were just as lost as he was. 

“I think I might go back to bed actually,” Otabek said suddenly, “sorry, I just… I think I need more sleep.” 

Before anyone could speak he’d stood up from the table in one fluid motion and turned to leave. 

“Ah, Beka,” Yurio caught his hand before he could get out of reach, “want me to come with?” Otabek shook his head but squeezed Yurio’s hand reassuringly.

“No, you go and have fun, I’m fine just a little tired.” 

With that, he walked away, still seeming oddly dazed. 

“Now what the fuck was that about?” Yurio murmured, turning back to the other two, who shrugged in unison.

“No idea.”

“Not a clue,” they answered at the same time, and Yurio squinted at them suspiciously. 

That was enough for him to figure it out, though, along with where Otabek had been in the early hours of the morning. He should have noticed that even the katsudon seemed a little more tired than usual, but he’d been so caught up in his own head he hadn’t even thought about it. Otabek had been talking with the other two, probably about him and this stupid fake relationship charade. He was probably telling them how stupid he thought it was, and how he wished he’d never agreed to it, and maybe even asking if they thought he could get away with not pretending anymore since it was unlikely they’d be kicked out of the retreat this close to the end anyway. Otabek probably wanted to leave early, and wanted to check if there’d be room in the car for Yurio to go back with the other two. He’d probably be packed and long gone before Yurio even got back from the day’s skating. He could feel himself getting worked up, anger and heartache bubbling up inside him demanding an outlet.

“Gonna go skate,” he muttered, pushing himself up from the table and missing the sympathetic look that passed between the two men remaining.

Once he was laced into his skates and had done his stretches - he wasn’t so worked up he would forget something that important - he skated out onto the ice and enjoyed being alone for a while. Everyone else was still enjoying their breakfast, so he had a little time to work through some of the more spacious portions of his program, but when Yuri and Victor came to join him they found him practicing spins and step sequences that required him to fold in on himself, making his lean body as small as possible. He didn’t notice them come in, just continued on completely oblivious to everything around him. Yurio was so completely stuck in his thoughts that when he hit a rough patch of ice caused by days of amateur skaters and no way to fix the ice on the temporary rink, he went down - hard. Skidding to a stop Yurio let out a frustrated yell and lay back on the ice, content to wallow in his damp, cold misery. Victor’s face appeared above him and Yurio hated the look of concern on it. 

“The fuck you want?” 

“You fell, I was worried…” 

“You’ve seen me fall dozens of times at practice,” Yurio rolled his eyes and hauled himself to his feet, batting away the hand Victor offered. 

“Not when you’re moping,” Victor shot back. 

“Not fucking moping,” Yurio growled, skating away from him and refusing to look back.

Except, he was, actually. His head felt too loud, his skin too tight and overheated. Every possible bad scenario rushing through his mind like a freight train of disaster. By now he was thoroughly convinced that Victor and/or Yuri had let slip about his crush sometime this morning when Beka (obviously) went to talk to them. That was why Beka was being weird, because he was pissed that Yurio hadn’t been able to control himself and let it just stay pretend. But he also knew Otabek was kind and decent, and that he was probably trying to find a way to let him down easy. Another reason he was being weird - he was thinking of the best way to tell Yurio he didn’t want to be friends anymore, let alone fake boyfriends. Fuck, did he even get to call him ‘Beka’ anymore? Probably not, and he should probably try to get out of that habit sooner rather than later. They were still going to see each other in competition, that was going to be unavoidable, and if he started throwing around pet names Otabek was going to give him that pitying look that Yurio could already  _ see _ in his mind’s eye, gently reminding him that they weren’t friends anymore and that  _ Yuri _ didn’t get to use a diminutive anymore. He’d never get to skate to Welcome To The Madness again, even though it was the best thing he’d ever done in his life, would never get to legally go to see Otabek DJ at a club, which he had been really looking forward to. Fuck, he’d really messed things up hadn’t he?

Feeling sudden tears sting the corners of his eyes he rushed off the ice and shoved his skate guards on haphazardly, ignoring Yuri’s call and heading straight to the makeshift locker room to remove his skates. He still had his own bedroom, even though all his stuff was in Otabek’s now, so he could hide out there until dinner time. Then he’d move all his things out again and keep the door locked. Yurio wished, possibly for the first time in his life, that he wasn’t so standoffish. If he wasn’t maybe he would have made friends with some of the other skaters here. He may be the youngest attendee, but there were still a few in his age range and they couldn’t possibly  _ all _ be completely intolerable. At least if he had made some friends, hell at this point he’d have settled for acquaintances, he would be able to join them and try to get over knowing that he wasn’t welcome with Otabek anymore. 

Why the hell hadn’t he just let Victor and Yuri come to this stupid fucking retreat on their own? He’d been dealing with the rest of his rinkmates, Yakov, and Lilia for long enough now that he knew how to wrangle them. He didn’t need stupid Victor or his stupid katsudon. He could have so easily just stayed behind, remained oblivious to his crush, and kept his precious friendship with Otabek intact. Instead, like the petulant child he knew he was, he’d demanded Otabek do something that probably made him really uncomfortable in order to get his own way. And Otabek, being so kind and caring, had agreed. He probably didn’t have the heart to say no when faced with Yurio’s whining, or had realized that it would be less hassle in the long run just to agree instead of knowing he would have to deal with two weeks of Yurio’s bitching if he got left behind. Ha, that was a laugh, given that now Otabek was going to have to work out how to end their friendship - that must be much more hassle than just tuning Yurio out. 

Maybe he should get there first, Yurio thought. Perhaps if he told Otabek he didn’t want to be friends anymore before he had a chance to do the telling it would be easier on both of them. Then Otabek wouldn’t have the stress of trying to find the right words, since he was the type who would agonize over it, and Yurio might find it easier to move on if he didn’t feel rejected. It would hurt, it already hurt, but he’d always been told it was best to tear the band-aid off in one go and get it over with than slowly peeling it and feeling every tiny pain. Yeah. Yeah that’s what he would do. He’d do it tonight, after dinner. He’d wait until Otabek went down to eat then move his things back into his own room, then wait for him to get back and tell him then. He should do it now, he knew, but he was selfish and wanted to pretend things weren’t ruined for just a little while longer. 

Shoving his battered feet into his equally battered Chucks he decided to take a walk to try and clear his head. Or at least figure out what he was going to say to Otabek later. Both, if he was lucky. He put his skates away and went to leave, but he walked smack bang into a familiar figure coming in through the open doorway.

Strong hands steadied him, the familiar touch making his heartache worse, and he felt as though a sudden swarm of wasps had taken up residence in his brain. He looked up, startled, and saw Otabek’s beautiful brown eyes looking back -  _ fuck _ did he want to lose himself in that gaze so badly. 

“You okay, Yura?” Otabek asked him, concern creeping into his expression as tears prickled Yurio’s eyes again. 

“ _ Idon’twanttobefriendsanymore, _ ” Yurio replied all in a rush, then pushed past him and fled like the coward he was leaving Otabek stunned in the doorway. 

Instead of going for his planned walk he holed up in his room with the door firmly locked and a chair propped up under the handle just in case. When the first knocking came he ignored it, shoving his head under a pillow so he couldn’t hear Otabek quietly calling his name, asking him to come out and talk to him. It would be too hard, there was no way he could face him. Not knowing that it would probably be their last conversation. He was being selfish again, wanting to drag it out for as long as he could because he knew that once they talked Otabek would leave on his beautiful motorcycle and Yurio wouldn’t see him again in friendship. 

The second knocking was Victor, and this time he threw pillows at the door and yelled at him to fuck off. He definitely wasn’t in the mood for talking to Victor, who was an emotional idiot most of the time but who could be very stern when he wanted to be. Yurio couldn’t imagine Victor even remotely understanding, and he didn’t really feel like a lecture today. Or ever. In fact if Victor could just never talk again that would be great, thanks. This was going to be hard enough as it was. 

Predictably, Katsudon did eventually come for his turn. However, instead of hammering on the door and demanding to be let in like Victor did, he simply tapped three times and waited. 

“Fuck off,” Yurio shouted back, his voice cracking.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re awake. I brought you some food, you should eat. I’ll leave it here for you, Victor’s distracting Otabek so you can come and get it without worrying he’ll ambush you.” Yuri fell silent for a moment and Yurio squinted at the door, trying to figure out if he’d left yet.

“If you want to talk about it, text me and I’ll come back and listen. You don’t have to let me in, I can sit out here. Text me if you need anything at all, actually. Just… At least eat, Yurio.” He heard a tiny thud as if Yuri had dropped his head to the door, then the sound of his retreating footsteps. 

There was no way he wanted to eat anything right now, even the thought of it made his stomach roil in objection. He waited for the wave of nausea to pass and went and collected the food anyway. He didn’t want it to still be there later when whatever distraction Vitya had cooked up for Otabek was finished. If he felt like eating he wanted the option. 

Yuri, veteran of wild and often negative emotions, had left him a plate of cold food. He must have known Yurio wouldn’t feel like eating right away, and made sure they were all things he could pick at slowly like bread and meats and cheese. A bottle of soda and - to his surprise - a tiny travel-sized bottle of vodka with a note attached by an elastic band were next to the plate, and Yurio flopped down on the bed to read it once he’d deposited the food on the small table.

_ Yura, it’s not good to medicate with alcohol when you’re feeling rough. Take it from the guy who got wasted at the GPF banquet and forgot everything!  _ Yurio snorted, remembering and then immediately trying to forget again.  _ But I thought you might need a little pick-me-up anyway. Just to help you relax a little. Sip it slowly! It won’t get you drunk, but maybe it’ll calm you down some. Me and Vitya are here if you need us.  _

_ Love, _

_ Katsudon _

Yurio crushed the note in his hand and squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden wave of emotion that crashed over him. Yuri was trying really hard to cheer him up. He hadn’t called him Yurio - though he’d long since gotten over his objection to that name and mostly complained out of habit by now - and had even signed it ‘Katsudon’. He probably thought it would make Yurio smile. It did, even if it was a bit of a weak, watery smile. He picked up the tiny bottle of vodka and broke the seal. The temptation to down the whole thing in one gulp was strong - and it wasn’t like he’d never drunk alcohol or vodka before, he was Russian for fuck’s sake - but in deference to Yuri’s thoughtfulness he sipped it slowly and carefully anyway. It was barely a mouthful in total, but he made it last, and as the burn in his throat slowly spread throughout the rest of his body he did feel a little better. Yurio picked at a little of the food but found he still had no real appetite, so he returned to his bed with the cold sheets that didn’t smell anywhere near enough like Otabek.

He didn’t realise he’d drifted off to sleep until he was awoken by gentle fingers running through his hair. It felt nice, Otabek had sometimes done this when they were watching movies if Yurio ended up half asleep with his head in his lap. He let out a small, happy sigh and drifted back into sleep again for a while. When he awoke again it was dark in the room, and there was still a hand in his hair but it wasn’t moving anymore - whoever it was must have fallen asleep too. 

“Yuri…? How did you…?” He shifted, rubbing sleep from his eyes and turning to look at the culprit. His heart almost stopped when he saw Otabek sitting beside him, face relaxed in sleep and mouth slightly open. Yurio allowed himself a moment just to stare as he knelt on the edge of the bed, knowing it was wrong but also knowing this was probably the last time he would ever get to see it, before gently shaking him awake. 

“Um. Otabek? How did you get in?” He didn’t miss the grimace as he said ‘Otabek’ instead of ‘Beka’, but he was trying his best to make a clean break of it. And that meant using his full name  _ now _ , not later when he was trying to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. 

“Mnn, servant’s entrance,” Otabek scrubbed his face with his hands and yawned in a way that was absolutely  _ not _ adorable. 

“All these old buildings tend to have them, took me all afternoon to find the damn thing, then the right door from the other side.” He flicked on the lamp and pointed to where a small section of the wall was swung inwards, revealing a narrow staircase inside.

“Why are you here?” Yurio asked with a sigh, hating himself for asking and not really wanting the answer. He knew Otabek was here to tell him he was leaving, but knowing it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Because I want to  _ talk _ to you Yura. I don’t know what I did to piss you off but…” he frowned, “whatever it is I want you to tell me so I can apologize and never do it again.” 

Yurio was stunned, completely unable to formulate any kind of an answer in that moment, so Otabek barrelled on. 

“If this is because I was going too hard on this whole fake relationship thing then I’m sorry that I got carried away. Last week I thought you were inviting me to kiss you, for the sake of appearances, I didn’t mean for… I didn’t intend to embarrass you. And I only said what I said yesterday because I didn’t know the others already knew we were faking it. If anything it seemed to me like they were buying the whole thing, Yuri’s been saying all kinds of really sappy things that I didn’t bother telling you because I know how you feel about all that kind of stuff. And… fuck,” he took a shuddering breath, and Yurio realized this was the longest he’d ever heard Otabek speak for in one go - Yurio would have interrupted him by now in a normal conversation. 

“I’m sorry, I’m lying, I need to stop doing that,” ah, here came the other shoe. This was the moment that Otabek was going to tell him he wished they hadn’t done this at all, that it was all a big mistake, and that he didn’t want to be friends again after all. 

“Yura the reason I agreed to do this is because I have feelings for you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaaaaaa.... Sorry? XD I promise I'll make it up to you with the next chapter, which is more than halfway done. That will be the last, for the first time probably ever I've planned a fic with a certain number of chapters and it's actually turned out that way lol :P 
> 
> Then I shall get started on my next Otayuri fic, which will be significantly more fluffy than this one \o/


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri and Otabek get their shit together!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is The Smut Chapter, enjoy! *blows kisses*
> 
> I'm, uh, out of practice so... if it's terrible... uh... forgive me xD

_“Yura the reason I agreed to do this is because I have feelings for you.”_

Yurio felt like the bottom had just dropped out of the world, or like he was going to be sick, or both. He swayed for a moment, clearly enough to concern Otabek because he put a hand on his shoulder to steady him before pulling it away again like he’d been burned, as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to touch Yurio.

“ _What_?” His voice came out in a hoarse whisper, but he didn’t trust himself to try again.

“I know, that’s why I never said anything,” Otabek looked miserable, picking at invisible lint on his knee, “it was stupid, but I couldn’t say no to the chance to at least _pretend_ that it was reciprocal for a while.”

Yurio’s ears were ringing, almost drowning out Otabek’s low voice.

“I’m sorry for being selfish, and-”

“Will you shut the fuck up for _one second Beka_ .” Yurio interrupted him, flapping his hands irritably the way Lilia often did when he was displeasing her. He needed just a minute to think, to _process_ what Beka was saying. Otabek’s mouth snapped shut with a clack of teeth and he fiddled with his hands in his lap nervously.

Yurio had to take another moment, too, to just look at Otabek. He had been acting off all day, and Yurio recognized this nervous energy now and the way Beka’s eyes had unfocussed as he tried to control his breathing. In through his nose. Out through his mouth. In through his nose again. Back out through his mouth. Yurio knew the pattern, had seen Katsudon doing it when his anxiety got particularly bad - like the first time Lilia yelled at him even though he wasn’t her student.

“Can I…?” He lifted his hand, reaching towards Otabek but not touching him, still not sure where exactly they stood. Otabek immediately nodded, releasing a hand from the other’s tight hold and holding it palm up for Yurio to take. Yurio pulled his hand across into his lap after resituating himself cross-legged since his feet had gone numb from being on his knees. Holding Otabek’s hand gently, he absently trailed light fingertips across his palm while he tried to think of what to say next.

“We’re so fucking stupid,” he managed, finally. Otabek’s wandering gaze finally found its way back to his face and he raised a questioning eyebrow. Yurio couldn’t help laughing quietly, it was such a ridiculous situation.

“I figured out that I liked you on fucking Friday, it’s been killing me ever since ‘cause I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. You were doing the same?” Otabek nodded and then joined him in laughing, realizing what Yurio was getting at.

Yurio’s mouth flapped for a few moments, all the words he wanted to say dying on his tongue at the look on Otabek’s face. They didn’t need any more of that mushy shit, that was Victor and Katsudon’s domain.

“Are you gonna be my boyfriend for real then or what?” He challenged, finally, falling back on their usual back-and-forth.

Otabek blinked at him in surprise then gave a low chuckle and gathered Yurio in his arms.

“We’re friends aren’t we? Then there’s only one answer,” he replied, then pressed their lips together in a kiss that was sweeter than honey. It only took a moment for Otabek to realize _they were really doing this_ and drawing Yurio into his lap, both of them wanting to be closer, as close as possible, sharing the same space even as they shared the air between them as they kissed. Yurio wrapped his legs around Beka’s waist and skidded the tips of his nimble fingers across the short, stubbly hair at the back of Otabek’s head. Beka made a happy little noise at the gentle touch and Yurio took the opportunity to slide his tongue into Otabek’s mouth, both of them groaning as they tasted each other for the first time.

Otabek’s arms felt _amazing_ around his waist, and Yurio couldn’t believe they’d been missing out on doing this all this time. He made a little keening whine that he would absolutely deny ever happened as Otabek grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged gently, making him tilt back his head so he could begin kissing down his pale, soft throat. He shifted slightly and both of them groaned as they each felt the other’s arousal. Beka punctuated his with a little nip, the barest graze of his teeth on Yurio’s skin enough to have him clinging to the older boy, desperate for more. They moved together, Beka hard in his jeans while Yurio enjoyed the relative freedom of his loose sleep pants, each begging wordlessly for more friction but unwilling to break apart just yet to do anything about it. It was almost as if they were under a spell that would be broken if either of them said a word, and neither of them wanted to be the one to bring this all crashing down.

“ _Fuck,_ Yura,” Otabek growled finally, his hands now up underneath the loose shirt he wore and leaving superheated trails across Yurio’s back. In return Yurio tugged on the hem of Beka’s shirt until he broke away to pull it over his head, and Yurio took the opportunity to do the same. Before the two shirts could even hit the floor they were kissing again, drawn together like strong magnets.

“Pants,” Yurio mumbled against Beka’s lips, long fingers undoing his button and unzipping his fly. He hesitated here, still reeling from the emotional whiplash of spending the day thinking they weren’t even going to be friends anymore and now, _now_ he was here, in his bed, grinding up against Otabek like some kind of wet dream come true.

With the same desperate energy they had when they lost their shirts, the two of them pulled off their pants but hesitated before removing the rest. They’d seen each other naked before, it was an occupational hazard of being athletes who shared locker rooms, but this was different. This was intentional, this was _intimate_. Beka’s eyes burned into Yurio’s and he hooked his thumbs into his boxers, pulling them down in one smooth movement as his face pinkened with a blush that Yurio would never, ever tell him was cute. He mirrored Otabek’s movements, and then suddenly they were both exposed, flushed, and breathing heavily.

“You’re _gorgeous_ , Yura,” Beka breathed, an awed tone in his voice.

“Speak for yourself, Beka,” he shot back with a pleased beam. Nobody had ever called him gorgeous before. Pretty, sure. Cute, all the damn time. But gorgeous? Never.

Yurio reached out for Otabek then, and it was like the energy in the air had completely changed. No longer were their kisses desperate and panicked, as if they were on a time limit and had to get in every kiss for the rest of their lives in just a few short moments. Yurio climbed back into Otabek’s lap and their lips met softly, moving together slowly, tasting each other as they explored each other’s bodies with their hands. There was no rush. Neither of them was going anywhere. They could take their time.

Tilting his hips, Otabek brought their cocks together almost completely by accident, and Yurio bit off a muffled cry at the sudden pleasure that shot through his body like a lightning bolt. He could feel Beka grin against his lips, rocking his hips again to draw the needy sound again from the younger boy.

“You’re a fucking _tease_ ,” Yurio groaned, dropping his head to Beka’s shoulder and squeezing his strong thighs together around Beka’s waist.

“I know,” Otabek whispered back as he dragged a blunt fingernail down Yurio’s spine until his back arched and he whined.

“I h-hate you,” Yurio panted.

“You love me,” Beka teased with his usual response.

Yurio froze suddenly, and Otabek realized what he’d said, knew it was probably way too soon for that but it had just slipped out, he was so used to the back-and-forth that he hadn’t even thought of it. Yurio leaned back and looked into his eyes, an expression of wonderment crossing his face.

“Yeah, you know what, asshole? I think I do,” Yurio brushed some of Otabek’s sweat-slick hair from his forehead before he leaned down and kissed him.

“Oh thank _fuck_ ,” Beka answered, his voice cracking on the last word, “‘cause I love you so much it fucking hurts, Yura.”

And then they were kissing again, a messy crash of lips and bumping teeth and a tiny bead of saliva slipping from the corner of Yurio’s mouth, and Otabek wasn’t sure if it was gross or hot that he wanted to lick it up with his tongue. Their aching dicks were almost forgotten in light of the revelation, but as Yurio shifted slightly they were reminded with a jolt and both of them let out simultaneous groans.

“Are you gonna stop teasing me any time soon?” Yurio bit out, rocking in Otabek’s lap with a needy whine.

Otabek just nipped his shoulder and moved one hand from where it had been stroking the younger boy’s back to take them both in hand between them. Yurio squeaked in surprise and buried his face in Beka’s neck, panting heavily.

“F-fuck, I can’t… it feels so good Beka,” Yurio managed. He’d never done this before with someone else and he had underestimated how good it would feel having someone else’s hand on him while his cock slid alongside Otabek’s.

“I haven’t either,” Otabek confessed quietly, and Yurio realized he’d said the words aloud. He was surprised, especially given how popular and handsome Otabek was. Yurio was surprised one of the Otababes, the name Otabek’s fans gave themselves that was even more stupid than Yuri’s Angels, in his opinion, hadn’t managed to wheedle her way into his heart by now. Or at least his bed. He pushed the thoughts from his mind, not really wanting to think about Otabek with anyone else while he had his hand on his cock.

“Yura, I can’t, I’m gonna,” Otabek muttered lowly, his hand never stopping or slowing, and Yurio realized how close he was too, his nails digging into Otabek’s shoulder as he writhed and gasped in his lap.

With a drawn-out groan that went straight to the overfull pool of arousal in Yurio’s belly Otabek spilled over his fist, bringing Yurio crashing down along with him at the first touch of his hot come stringing across Yurio’s chest. Beka worked them slowly through their orgasms then his hand stilled, sticky with their combined release. Their bodies moved only as much as they needed to pant together, sharing the air as much as the butterfly-soft kisses they passed back and forth between them. Finally, Yurio pulled back and made a face at the feeling of the rapidly-cooling sticky mess between them.

“Hang on,” he muttered, climbing off Beka and vanishing into the bathroom to grab a washcloth. He wiped himself clean then rinsed the cloth and returned to clean up Otabek with surprising tenderness. When he was done he came back and climbed back into the space between Otabek’s legs and leaned back against his chest. Beka wrapped his arms around his slender body and held him close, his chin resting on Yurio’s shoulder.

“I never thought I’d get to have this,” he murmured quietly, almost as if he was worried that giving voice to his feelings would break this spell and they’d go back to being just friends.

“We’re a couple of fucking idiots,” Yurio agreed dreamily.

“Not idiots,” Otabek huffed a laugh.

“Just a couple fucking, then?” Yurio couldn’t resist, a flash of mischief in his eyes as he looked over at Beka.

“Why not.” They laughed and kissed and laughed some more.

Eventually the chill in the room got too much for them, it was still Spring in Russia after all and the heating in this massive building wasn’t exactly stellar, so they reluctantly got dressed quickly before returning to their previous embrace.

Yurio suddenly grabbed his phone from the nightstand and opened up Instagram, still ignoring the red notifications bubble that had been stuck on ‘99+’ for days. With demanding hands he shifted Otabek around until he was satisfied then opened the front-facing camera and snapped a picture to post. They looked at it, pleased with the result.

Otabek’s left leg was stuck out in front of him while his right was crooked up and his foot pretty much tucked under Yurio’s butt. His right hand was tangled in Yurio’s hair and his left arm was wrapped around the younger skater, holding him to his chest. Yurio’s head was tilted back and his left hand - the one not holding the selfie-stick out - was cupping the back of Otabek’s stubbled head. They were kissing with a tender smile on their lips, and Yurio thought it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He’d have to remember to thank Phichit for the stick, which he had been reluctantly carrying around with him but that had actually come in handy every once in a while.

He flicked through a few different filters but ultimately decided that the warm orange glow from the lamp gave it the perfect mood lighting anyway and posted it after adding a few tags.

@otabek-altin #bff #boyfriends #loveisawesome #welcometothemadness #yurisangels #otababes #sorrynotsorry #imhisnumber1fan

They both knew it was going to cause another stir, but neither of them could bring themselves to care.

 

~

 

“Yuriooooo!” Victor’s face was all wobbly with emotion again when they went down for breakfast the following morning holding hands.

“Shut up,” Yurio muttered, his entire face flaring bright red and Beka kissed his temple with a chuckle.

“We’re glad you guys managed to work things out,” Yuri said with a warm smile and a warning look at Victor not to make a big deal of it, since they’d made the excuse that Yurio had been feeling unwell yesterday to explain his sudden seclusion. Yurio looked at Katsudon for a long moment, feeling like he should offer some words of gratitude for his support yesterday, but finally he settled for a curt nod. Yuri knew he wasn’t exactly one for the mushy words like Victor was.

“That picture on Instagram was the cutest thing in the _entire world_ ,” Victor was saying to Otabek, though he just nodded and continued fixing a cup of coffee for Yurio. At first Yurio felt his ears turn pink, he still hated being called cute, then his expression turned wicked and he looked up at Victor innocently through his lashes.

“Well, I decided it was probably better than the one of Beka looking completely fucked out,” he purred and was rewarded with a choke from Victor and a nervous chuckle from Yuri.

“ _Yura_ ,” Otabek was muffling his laughter with his hand, knowing full well Yurio hadn’t taken a picture like that.

“You _didn’t_ ,” Victor looked scandalized.

“Oh like you weren’t doing shit like that at my age,” Yurio scoffed, winking at Yuri who no longer looked nervous but instead was just plain laughing at Victor.

Victor spluttered and stammered but couldn’t actually deny it, even if the thought of the kid sitting across from him doing… _that_ … was hard for him to fathom.

When the four of them finished and began to make their way to the rink for the last time, since tomorrow would just be a day to say goodbye and pack everything up, Yurio noticed Yuri pull Otabek to one side for a moment, speaking to him quietly in a hushed voice. He didn’t miss how the back of Beka’s neck flushed pink, and he suddenly remembered that he’d vanished early the previous morning.

“Where did you go yesterday morning?” He tried to keep his tone light, curiosity burning in him but not wanting to sound accusatory. Otabek sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face.

“I came down here to skate alone for a while, I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.” He looked sheepish and Yurio continued to silently lace his skates, not wanting to push for more information. He’d been so sure Beka was talking to Yuri and Victor, and he was having a hard time with the realization that this was still _real_ , that he hadn’t ruined their friendship forever.

“I needed to think, my feelings for you were spilling over,” Beka continued quietly after a few moments silence, “and I had to decide if I was going to let things go back to how they were after tomorrow, or if I was going to tell you.”

“And then I messed everything up by being a brat,” Yurio grinned ruefully.

“Not really, I’d decided not to say anything. If you weren’t such a brat I’d never have gotten the courage to tell you,” Otabek flashed him a small smile and Yurio nodded in agreement. Sometimes his temper tantrums were useful after all.

“C’mon,” he said suddenly, grabbing Otabek’s hand and pulling him to his feet, “let’s make the masses happy and do Welcome To The Madness today, yeah?” The smile that split Otabek’s face was like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm and he nodded.

It turned out the organizers didn’t have the music for the program, and Yurio was about to lose his temper - they’d remembered to get _Yuri’s_ exhibition music after all, why not his? - when Otabek produced a tiny USB drive from his pocket and handed it over wordlessly with a shrug.

“What, you just carry that around with you?” Yurio barked a laugh.

“Not exactly, it’s a few different songs that I like to skate to and I keep it handy in case I’m ever in a place where I can put it on.”

“Sure, sure,” Yurio snorted, skating to the middle of the rink wearing a pair of borrowed sunglasses and Otabek’s motorcycle gloves, which were only a little bit too big for him, while the organizers put the music on. An air of excitement had fallen over the room, quite a few of the attendees had at least seen the livestream of Yurio’s first performance of this number, and were thrilled to get to see it live. Ideally he _did_ need a little more space than this, he hadn’t been _completely_ exaggerating that first day, but he could make it work.

He let the music flow through him, entering via his fingertips and rushing down his body to fly out through his blades, an extension of his body by this point, leaving scores in the ice and little flurries of shards flying up as he moved. Yurio could barely hear what was going on, but he didn’t miss the cheers as he and Otabek moved through the glove-removing portion of the program. And _holy shit_ how had he not _realized_ how that looked before? Otabek puts his _fucking finger_ in his _mouth_ for fuck’s sake. Unlike the first time though, Beka stuck out his tongue and licked the tip of his finger before he pulled off the glove, a wicked look in his eyes as Yurio moved away. Little shit. Dropping into the final pose, Yurio caught his breath and then laughed, climbing to his feet and giving a little bow to the applauding crowd. Performing was so exhilarating, and it felt more so when he got to share his performance with Otabek, so he skated to the edge of the rink and wrapped his arms around Beka, thanking him silently for his participation. A few wolf whistles rang out from the assembled people, now starting to get onto the ice themselves, and Yurio gave them the finger but smiled so they knew he didn’t mean it unkindly.

“You’re amazing Yura,” Beka said quietly, and it made his heart flip somersaults in his chest.

“Yeah well,” he answered, bashful for once, and skated away to practice some jumps.

The day passed all too quickly, and before he knew it they were returning to their room after dinner and saying goodnight to Yuri and Victor. They were going back to St Petersburg tomorrow, and Otabek was due to fly back to Almaty on Monday - they hadn’t seen the point in extending his stay, given that things weren’t supposed to change and Otabek had his own training to get back to. Now, though, Yurio’s heart ached in a way he couldn’t begin to describe, and he felt like they’d completely wasted these two weeks. They could have spent more of their free time in the local town, could have been acting more like the rest of the couples who were here, but instead they’d both had their heads shoved so far up their own asses that they hadn’t, and now it was basically too late.

They changed quickly and took it in turns to use the attached bathroom, both of them foregoing sleep shirts since they’d seen each other naked now and it seemed stupid. Plus Yurio wasn’t above admitting that he just wanted to feel Otabek’s skin next to his one last time. Sliding under the covers, Yurio immediately pressed himself up against Beka, wrapping his arms around the older boy and pressing his nose into the hollow of his throat, breathing in deeply and savoring the way he smelled. Otabek seemed just as reluctant to lose out on any of their short remaining time together, and he held Yurio close while peppering his hair with small kisses.

Tilting his head up, Yurio drew Beka into a kiss that was just as sweet as the first, and once again he couldn’t help but notice how soft Otabek’s lips were. He’d have to remember to ask if he used some kind of special balm, cause _holy shit_ it was so nice. This time his arousal crept up on him, he was losing himself in the gentle kisses and touches that he hardly even noticed the heat pooling at the base of his spine, until Otabek took his lip between his teeth and it washed over him suddenly, making him hiss in surprise. Unlike the previous night, though, there was no urgency between them; they were happy to just let things progress however they happened. That didn’t stop their kisses becoming deeper, however, or their touches from becoming more bold. Yurio ran his hand across Beka’s chest, pinching his nipple gently and grinning against his mouth at the sudden intake of breath from the other boy. Not one to be outdone, Otabek slid his hands down Yurio’s back and grabbed his ass, squeezing tight and pulling him flush against his own body so they could press together as they had done the day before.

“That feels so good Beka,” Yurio mumbled, kissing down the long copper column of Otabek’s throat and enjoying the way he hummed in appreciation at the attention. He mouthed at the bolt of Otabek’s jaw, nipping with gentle teeth and then lapping at the rosy bloom on his skin. It wasn’t enough to bruise, but Beka seemed to enjoy it so he continued to do it. They moved together like that for a while, trading kisses and little teasing bites, until Otabek rolled back with a growl and pulled Yurio till the younger boy was sitting astride him like before.

“Yura,” he said, and Yurio kind of loved the way his voice was deepened with lust, “how do you feel about fucking me?”

Yurio drew back in surprise - he wasn’t opposed to the idea at all, but he hadn’t expected Beka to want that, or at least not so soon. Before Otabek could misunderstand him though he leaned back down and renewed his attack on his lips with vigor.

“That would be amazing, but we don’t have…” he trailed off and frowned.

“Ah, well…” Beka’s face flared red and he slid his hand up under the pillow, returning with several small sachets of lube and a couple of condoms.

“The fuck you get those?” Yurio’s eyes bugged out, surprised Otabek had been carrying something like that. Not terribly mad about it, but it was definitely more forethought than he would have expected in their circumstances.

“Katsuki gave them to me earlier,” Beka muttered, face still glowing bright red in embarrassment, “he said he wasn’t exactly encouraging it, but that he would prefer us to be safe and prepared than…” he trailed off, covering his face with a hand as the awkwardness of the situation finally got the better of him.

“I’ll have to make sure to thank him,” Yurio replied with a chuckle, getting up to divest himself of his pants and picking up one of the lube sachets to examine carefully while Otabek did the same, “but are you sure you want it _this_ way?”

“I… may have done this on my own, once or twice,” Beka confessed, “and I trust you.”

“O-okay,” Yurio suddenly felt nervous, “you might have to give me instructions though.”

Otabek nodded, and Yurio resettled between his legs. Before he could do anything else though, he was overcome with a strong desire to lick a wet stripe up Otabek’s cock - so he did, and his eyes gleamed with mischief at the broken off cry that escaped his friend, no, his _boyfriend’s_ lips. He’d have to remember that one.

At Otabek’s quiet direction, Yurio tore open one of the lube packs and spread a generous amount on his long fingers before letting Beka guide them to his waiting hole. To his surprise the ring of muscle was already wet and pliant, and he arched an eyebrow at Otabek.

“Well I wanted to make it easy if you said yes,” he muttered, bashful at having been caught out, “and honestly you’d think Yuri had been packing for some Great Lube Drought the number of packs he gave me.”

Yurio couldn’t help but laugh and kiss the grumpy look from Otabek’s face - at least that explained why the older boy had spent so long in the shower.

The drawn out moan that fell from those soft, beautiful lips as Yurio pressed his finger inside Otabek went straight to his dick and made it twitch eagerly, beads of pre-come sliding down his length to dampen the sheet beneath them. Beka’s breaths came in short gasps as Yurio slid his finger in and out, twisting and curling it to test how the boy beneath him would react. At Beka’s insistence he pressed a second finger in, and was delighted to watch him fall apart under his ministrations. Beka’s cock curved up towards him beautifully, flushed and leaking as Beka tried to keep the noise to a minimum, even going so far as to actually bite his own fist to stifle the moan when Yurio curved his fingers _just right_ and found a sensitive bundle of nerves that he would definitely remember for next time. He was quite content to continue on this way for some time, but when he leaned down and lapped gently at the head of Beka’s cock the older boy let out a keening whine and managed to gasp out ‘stop’.

Immediately Yurio sat back on his heels and pulled both his hands away, unsure if Otabek was changing his mind or simply overwhelmed by all the different sensations at once. He waited patiently, not fleeing even though his anxious heart was screaming at him that he’d done something wrong, but not touching again either until permission was reinstated. _That_ much he knew, he was inexperienced, not fucking _stupid_. After a couple of moments Otabek motioned for him to come forward again, and drew him into a kiss that left him breathless.

“Sorry, just a little too much,” Otabek explained between kisses, “I want this to be good for you, not to finish before you even get in me.” Otabek laughed and a shiver passed through Yurio’s body at the reminder that in a few short moments he could be doing just that.

Once again following Otabek’s instructions, though this part was more him extrapolating than from really knowing what he was doing, Yurio rolled the condom over himself after using his clean hand to stroke himself back up to full hardness. The brief moment of anxiety had seen his erection flagging, but it perked up again in no time between his hand and the generous amount of kissing that Beka was showering him with. Then using plenty more lube, he finally lined himself up and glanced up at the warm brown eyes for confirmation that Beka was ready. Beka was biting his lip, but it looked more like anticipation than apprehension, and he gave a curt nod and a quiet instruction to go slow.

Pressing inside, he couldn’t completely muffle the low groan that spilled from his lips at the how warm and tight Beka felt surrounding him. Beka smirked at that, and let him slide in in his own time - achingly slow for both of them, but Yurio was afraid of hurting him. When he was finally all the way in, Yurio had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. He suddenly understood what Otabek had meant about it being ‘too much’ before, he was feeling a little overwhelmed himself. He lay down on top of Beka, resting his head on his chest as he willed his heart rate to slow. Otabek just wrapped his arms around him, stroking his back soothingly and letting him take his time until he was ready to get going again.

“You okay?”

“Mm, you feel too fucking good Beka.”

When he looked up again Beka was looking at him with his eyes full of so much love it threatened to overwhelm him again, so he let his eyes flutter closed and began to move his hips slowly. His hands curled into fists on Otabek’s chest, steadying him so he could fuck into Beka with greater ease. Cracking open one eye at a sudden stifled noise he noticed that Otabek’s eyes were closed too, hands fisted in the sheet as he let the pleasure wash over him. With a sudden wicked thought, Yurio grabbed his wrists and pushed them above Beka’s head, pinning him down and enjoying the stark contrast between Otabek’s dark skin and his milky-white skin. Of course, Beka could have broken the grip easily - he was quite a lot physically stronger than Yurio - but he grinned up at Yurio and let him hold him down.

Yurio slid carefully in and out of Otabek, pulling a face at the sounds it made and making him chuckle, but it was easy to forget the strange noises coming from between their bodies when Otabek was looking up at him with that sweet smile on his face and a dazed expression as if he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Of course, there was no way he could keep up that agonizingly slow pace forever and soon, almost of their own accord, his hips began to move faster, eliciting even more gorgeous sounds from Otabek’s mouth. Yurio could feel his peak rapidly approaching, the new sensations way too much for him to hang on for very long, and he was quickly leaning over Otabek’s body, panting hard as he fucked into Beka’s body.

“Oh shit, Beka I can’t last, I’m gonna come,” he gasped, the obscene sounds of their skin slapping together more arousing than embarrassing now.

“Come for me kitten, I wanna feel you,” Beka all-but purred, his low voice sex-rough and sending the already teetering Yurio crashing down over the edge and riding the wave of his pleasure. He continued to thrust for a few more moments, prolonging the high for as long as he could before he had to stop.

“Fuck, Beka, I didn’t-” Yurio began, realizing he’d completely forgotten about Otabek in his haze of pleasure. Otabek just grinned at him and as he leaned up he saw that Otabek had once again painted his own chest with come.

“That was fucking amazing Yura,” he leaned up to kiss the smaller boy, strong arms wrapping around his body and bringing him down to seal their lips together. They made out for a while longer before Yurio finally had to slide free and go get a washcloth to clean up again. He felt kind of gross and sticky, and he would definitely want a proper shower in the morning before they left.

“I knew it would be good but… wow,” was all Yurio could say by way of answer after he’d flopped back down next to Otabek. They laughed together for a while then traded lazy kisses until Yurio started yawning and Otabek pulled the blankets back over them - they’d stolen the one from Yurio’s room too, since he got cold sometimes even despite Otabek’s space-heater body heat.

Yurio was drifting in and out of sleep when he heard Beka say something and he roused himself just enough to tune back in.

“What?”

“I was just saying, I didn’t actually book my flight back yet. I meant to but the ticket was open-ended and, well, I… wasn’t sure I’d be able to manage a whole two weeks faking this,” he made a wide, nebulous hand gesture at the two of them intertwined and naked in the bed, “so I left myself an out in case I needed to fake some kind of urgent reason to go home.”

At least he had the good grace to look sheepish as Yurio snorted at him.

“You coulda just told the truth, or half-truth, I’d have understood.” Otabek fixed him with a long, skeptical look and Yurio had to admit to himself that no, he probably wouldn’t have, he’d probably have been pissed off and refused to speak to Otabek for a while for abandoning him with Yuri and Victor. He’d have gotten over it though, Beka was his best friend, they could never fight for long.

“Anyway the point I’m making is, if Yakov doesn’t mind me taking up some of your ice to let me keep practicing there, how do you feel about me staying in St Petersburg for a little longer? Not long, my coach will kill me if I make too much of the extended vacation, but maybe till the end of the week?”

Yurio stared at him for a long moment before throwing himself at him, showering him with kisses interspersed with affirmations.

 

~

 

“Mo~rning!” Victor’s loud, annoying voice pierced Yurio’s lovely haze of sleep and he felt a sudden chill as the top blanket was yanked away from them.

“I… was not expecting that,” Victor laughed and Yurio shot him a one-eyed glare from the cage of Otabek’s arms.

“Good thing though, we’re naked under here,” he growled.

Victor’s face went bright red and his mouth flapped impotently for a moment before Yuri burst in in a panic - clearly Victor had given him the slip and decided to come and annoy the teenagers.

“For goodness _sake_ Victor!” He dragged his still stunned fiancé from the room babbling apologies before the door slammed shut behind him.

“Woulda served him right,” Yurio muttered sourly, burrowing his nose deeper into the hollow of Beka’s throat and wishing they didn’t ever have to leave this beautiful huge bed.

“Yup,” Otabek agreed and gave him a little squeeze.

“Love you Beka,” Yurio sighed, knowing they would have to get up.

“Love you too, kitten.”

‘Kitten.’ Yeah… he kind of liked that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap folks! I hope it was enjoyable. This is probably the funniest thing I've ever written, or at least it made me and Foxie laugh our asses off xD

**Author's Note:**

> As always you can find me on [my fandom tumblr](http://faeryn.tumblr.com) or my much quieter [writing tumblr](http://faerynfics.tumblr.com). 
> 
> Kudos are life, comments are love <3


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